Convex Optimization

Discover the practical impacts of current methods of optimization with this approachable, one-stop resource Linear and Convex Optimization: A Mathematical Approach delivers a concise and unified treatment of optimization with a focus on developing insights in problem structure, modeling, and algorithms. Convex optimization problems are covered in detail because of their many applications and the fast algorithms that have been developed to solve them.  Experienced researcher and undergraduate teacher Mike Veatch presents the main algorithms used in linear, integer, and convex optimization in a mathematical style with an emphasis on what makes a class of problems practically solvable and developing insight into algorithms geometrically. Principles of algorithm design and the speed of algorithms are discussed in detail, requiring no background in algorithms. The book offers a breadth of recent applications to demonstrate the many areas in which optimization is successfully and frequently used, while the process of formulating optimization problems is addressed throughout.  Linear and Convex Optimization contains a wide variety of features, including: Coverage of current methods in optimization in a style and level that remains appealing and accessible for mathematically trained undergraduates Enhanced insights into a few algorithms, instead of presenting many algorithms in cursory fashion An emphasis on the formulation of large, data-driven optimization problems Inclusion of linear, integer, and convex optimization, covering many practically solvable problems using algorithms that share many of the same concepts Presentation of a broad range of applications to fields like online marketing, disaster response, humanitarian development, public sector planning, health delivery, manufacturing, and supply chain management Ideal for upper level undergraduate mathematics majors with an interest in practical applications of mathematics, this book will also appeal to business, economics, computer science, and operations research majors with at least two years of mathematics training.

A thorough and highly accessible resource for analysts in a broad range of social sciences. Optimization: Foundations and Applications presents a series of approaches to the challenges faced by analysts who must find the best way to accomplish particular objectives, usually with the added complication of constraints on the available choices. Award-winning educator Ronald E. Miller provides detailed coverage of both classical, calculus-based approaches and newer, computer-based iterative methods. Dr. Miller lays a solid foundation for both linear and nonlinear models and quickly moves on to discuss applications, including iterative methods for root-finding and for unconstrained maximization, approaches to the inequality constrained linear programming problem, and the complexities of inequality constrained maximization and minimization in nonlinear problems. Other important features include: More than 200 geometric interpretations of algebraic results, emphasizing the intuitive appeal of mathematics Classic results mixed with modern numerical methods to aid users of computer programs Extensive appendices containing mathematical details important for a thorough understanding of the topic With special emphasis on questions most frequently asked by those encountering this material for the first time, Optimization: Foundations and Applications is an extremely useful resource for professionals in such areas as mathematics, engineering, economics and business, regional science, geography, sociology, political science, management and decision sciences, public policy analysis, and numerous other social sciences. An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available upon request from the Wiley editorial department.

The revised and updated new edition of the popular optimization book for engineers The thoroughly revised and updated fifth edition of Engineering Optimization: Theory and Practice offers engineers a guide to the important optimization methods that are commonly used in a wide range of industries. The author—a noted expert on the topic—presents both the classical and most recent optimizations approaches. The book introduces the basic methods and includes information on more advanced principles and applications. The fifth edition presents four new chapters: Solution of Optimization Problems Using MATLAB; Metaheuristic Optimization Methods; Multi-Objective Optimization Methods; and Practical Implementation of Optimization. All of the book's topics are designed to be self-contained units with the concepts described in detail with derivations presented. The author puts the emphasis on computational aspects of optimization and includes design examples and problems representing different areas of engineering. Comprehensive in scope, the book contains solved examples, review questions and problems, and is accompanied by a website hosting a solutions manual. This important book: Offers an updated edition of the classic work on optimization Includes approaches that are appropriate for all branches of engineering Contains numerous practical design and engineering examples Offers more than 140 illustrative examples, 500 plus references in the literature of engineering optimization, and more than 500 review questions and answers Demonstrates the use of MATLAB for solving different types of optimization problems using different techniques Written for students across all engineering disciplines, the revised edition of Engineering Optimization: Theory and Practice is the comprehensive book that covers the new and recent methods of optimization and reviews the principles and applications.

An Application-Oriented Introduction to Essential Optimization Concepts and Best Practices Optimization is an inherent human tendency that gained new life after the advent of calculus; now, as the world grows increasingly reliant on complex systems, optimization has become both more important and more challenging than ever before. Engineering Optimization provides a practically-focused introduction to modern engineering optimization best practices, covering fundamental analytical and numerical techniques throughout each stage of the optimization process. Although essential algorithms are explained in detail, the focus lies more in the human function: how to create an appropriate objective function, choose decision variables, identify and incorporate constraints, define convergence, and other critical issues that define the success or failure of an optimization project. Examples, exercises, and homework throughout reinforce the author’s “do, not study” approach to learning, underscoring the application-oriented discussion that provides a deep, generic understanding of the optimization process that can be applied to any field. Providing excellent reference for students or professionals, Engineering Optimization: Describes and develops a variety of algorithms, including gradient based (such as Newton’s, and Levenberg-Marquardt), direct search (such as Hooke-Jeeves, Leapfrogging, and Particle Swarm), along with surrogate functions for surface characterization Provides guidance on optimizer choice by application, and explains how to determine appropriate optimizer parameter values Details current best practices for critical stages of specifying an optimization procedure, including decision variables, defining constraints, and relationship modeling Provides access to software and Visual Basic macros for Excel on the companion website, along with solutions to examples presented in the book Clear explanations, explicit equation derivations, and practical examples make this book ideal for use as part of a class or self-study, assuming a basic understanding of statistics, calculus, computer programming, and engineering models. Anyone seeking best practices for “making the best choices” will find value in this introductory resource.

A complete, highly accessible introduction to one of today's most exciting areas of applied mathematics One of the youngest, most vital areas of applied mathematics, combinatorial optimization integrates techniques from combinatorics, linear programming, and the theory of algorithms. Because of its success in solving difficult problems in areas from telecommunications to VLSI, from product distribution to airline crew scheduling, the field has seen a ground swell of activity over the past decade. Combinatorial Optimization is an ideal introduction to this mathematical discipline for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of discrete mathematics, computer science, and operations research. Written by a team of recognized experts, the text offers a thorough, highly accessible treatment of both classical concepts and recent results. The topics include: * Network flow problems * Optimal matching * Integrality of polyhedra * Matroids * NP-completeness Featuring logical and consistent exposition, clear explanations of basic and advanced concepts, many real-world examples, and helpful, skill-building exercises, Combinatorial Optimization is certain to become the standard text in the field for many years to come.

This book aims to help engineers, Masters students and young researchers to understand and gain a general knowledge of logistic systems optimization problems and techniques, such as system design, layout, stock management, quality management, lot-sizing or scheduling. It summarizes the evaluation and optimization methods used to solve the most frequent problems. In particular, the authors also emphasize some recent and interesting scientific developments, as well as presenting some industrial applications and some solved instances from real-life cases. Performance evaluation tools (Petri nets, the Markov process, discrete event simulation, etc.) and optimization techniques (branch-and-bound, dynamic programming, genetic algorithms, ant colony optimization, etc.) are presented first. Then, new optimization methods are presented to solve systems design problems, layout problems and buffer-sizing optimization. Forecasting methods, inventory optimization, packing problems, lot-sizing quality management and scheduling are presented with examples in the final chapters.

This text provides an excellent balance of theory and application that enables you to deploy powerful algorithms, frameworks, and methodologies to solve complex optimization problems in a diverse range of industries. Each chapter is written by leading experts in the fields of parallel and distributed optimization. Collectively, the contributions serve as a complete reference to the field of combinatorial optimization, including details and findings of recent and ongoing investigations.

This is the first book devoted entirely to Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), which is a non-specific algorithm, similar to evolutionary algorithms, such as taboo search and ant colonies. Since its original development in 1995, PSO has mainly been applied to continuous-discrete heterogeneous strongly non-linear numerical optimization and it is thus used almost everywhere in the world. Its convergence rate also makes it a preferred tool in dynamic optimization.

A clear and lucid bottom-up approach to the basic principles of evolutionary algorithms Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are a type of artificial intelligence. EAs are motivated by optimization processes that we observe in nature, such as natural selection, species migration, bird swarms, human culture, and ant colonies. This book discusses the theory, history, mathematics, and programming of evolutionary optimization algorithms. Featured algorithms include genetic algorithms, genetic programming, ant colony optimization, particle swarm optimization, differential evolution, biogeography-based optimization, and many others. Evolutionary Optimization Algorithms: Provides a straightforward, bottom-up approach that assists the reader in obtaining a clear—but theoretically rigorous—understanding of evolutionary algorithms, with an emphasis on implementation Gives a careful treatment of recently developed EAs—including opposition-based learning, artificial fish swarms, bacterial foraging, and many others— and discusses their similarities and differences from more well-established EAs Includes chapter-end problems plus a solutions manual available online for instructors Offers simple examples that provide the reader with an intuitive understanding of the theory Features source code for the examples available on the author's website Provides advanced mathematical techniques for analyzing EAs, including Markov modeling and dynamic system modeling Evolutionary Optimization Algorithms: Biologically Inspired and Population-Based Approaches to Computer Intelligence is an ideal text for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and professionals involved in engineering and computer science.

In Practical Financial Optimization: A Library of GAMS Models, the authors provide a diverse set of models for portfolio optimization, based on the General Algebraic Modelling System. ‘GAMS’ consists of a language which allows a high-level, algebraic representation of mathematical models and a set of solvers – numerical algorithms – to solve them. The system was developed in response to the need for powerful and flexible front-end tools to manage large, real-life models. The work begins with an overview of the structure of the GAMS language, and discusses issues relating to the management of data in GAMS models. The authors provide models for mean-variance portfolio optimization which address the question of trading off the portfolio expected return against its risk. Fixed income portfolio optimization models perform standard calculations and allow the user to bootstrap a yield curve from bond prices. Dedication models allow for standard portfolio dedication with borrowing and re-investment decisions, and are extended to deal with maximisation of horizon return and to incorporate various practical considerations on the portfolio tradeability. Immunization models provide for the factor immunization of portfolios of treasury and corporate bonds. The scenario-based portfolio optimization problem is addressed with mean absolute deviation models, tracking models, regret models, conditional VaR models, expected utility maximization models and put/call efficient frontier models. The authors employ stochastic programming for dynamic portfolio optimization, developing stochastic dedication models as stochastic extensions of the fixed income models discussed in chapter 4. Two-stage and multi-stage stochastic programs extend the scenario models analysed in Chapter 5 to allow dynamic rebalancing of portfolios as time evolves and new information becomes known. Models for structuring index funds and hedging interest rate risk on international portfolios are also provided. The final chapter provides a set of ‘case studies’: models for large-scale applications of portfolio optimization, which can be used as the basis for the development of business support systems to suit any special requirements, including models for the management of participating insurance policies and personal asset allocation. The title will be a valuable guide for quantitative developers and analysts, portfolio and asset managers, investment strategists and advanced students of finance.